


Take to the Sky

by cjmarlowe



Series: Life Is Waiting For You [7]
Category: Kris Allen (Musician)
Genre: AI season 7 ensemble, AU, Fingering, M/M, Summer Vacation, Temperature Play, Waxplay, kink bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-31
Updated: 2010-08-31
Packaged: 2017-11-12 11:26:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/490378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjmarlowe/pseuds/cjmarlowe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><strike>What</strike> Who Kris does on his summer vacation</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take to the Sky

About two weeks into Kris's summer break the topic of the family's summer vacation comes up. Kris and Daniel both veto the Grand Canyon, because as cool as it is they've already been there twice and there's really only so much you can do while you're there. Kris wouldn't mind going again with his buddies one day, or maybe with someone he's dating, but not with his family and not for a summer vacation.

It comes up the week after that, too. And the week after that. Reservations and arrangements need to be made so they can't put off the decision much longer, and after a garage conference over orange popsicles, Kris and Daniel actually come back at them with a united front and suggest they go to a resort for a week or two. Sand, sunshine, and not having to worry about hotels, meals, or driving.

Kris thinks it's the 'no driving' that wins in the end, combined with the great off-season prices, but whatever finally convinces them, come August they all pack up and head to the Bahamas for ten days.

Kris and Daniel will probably hardly talk the whole time, going their separate ways as soon as they get there, but once the decision is made and reservations booked they meet in the garage again and high five over another popsicle, and they're definitely calling this one a win. Anything that doesn't result in the entire family spending many hours in a car together pretty much counts as a win, at their age.

*

The hotel is pretty sprawling, even with one wing closed down for construction during the off-season. All the facilities are still open, and frankly Kris can't wait to just relax and enjoy himself. Do some swimming, get some sun, play his guitar on the beach. (His family all gave him a little side-eye when he brought his guitar with him, but Kris just shrugged at them. They brought their books and their ipods and, in Daniel's case, his video games. Kris brought his guitar.)

Ten days where he doesn't have to worry about anything but sunscreen and swim trunks and the occasional meal with his family. It all sounds great in theory, because Kris enjoys his own company and knows what to do with himself, but after about a day and a half he realizes that this place would probably be more fun with someone he knows to hang out with. Still, it's miles better than hours in the car with his family, and playing his guitar on the beach at sunset is one of the best feelings, it really is.

It's on the morning of his third day that Kris first sees the guy, though he has the sort of vague familiarity about him that suggests that Kris maybe spotted him out in the water the day before or something and noticed him without really registering it.

Kris still doesn't think he has a type. No, he's _sure_ he doesn't have a type, not in girls and he guesses not in guys either though he doesn't have a lot to base that on. Maybe he only notices this guy because it seems like the guy is noticing _him_ , smiling at Kris first over the breakfast buffet and then again when they're sitting out on the patio at separate tables with their plates piled high.

He smiles back without even thinking about it, and it's only later when he's up in his room changing to hit the pool that he realizes that he was kind of flirting. Because there's smiling and then there's _smiling_ and he thinks he was doing the second one. And he's no expert but he thinks maybe the guy was doing the second one too.

Kris isn't super comfortable with his shirt off, knows he's finally lost most of his baby fat but he's still not what anyone would call defined, but if he's going to be at a resort in the Bahamas he's definitely not keeping his clothes on, and not just because his brother would mock him to death if he did. So he's in just his trunks, dipping his toes into the cold water of the pool, when he hears an unfamiliar voice behind him say, "Hey."

He looks back over his shoulder and sees the guy from breakfast there and he actually almost tips into the pool until the guy grabs hold of his wrist and keeps him upright.

"Whoa, sorry," he says with an apologetic laugh. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"No, I'm good," says Kris, and ducks his head and laughs in the general direction of his feet for a moment before lifting his head again to look at him. "If you were my brother you would've just pushed me in."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not your brother, then," he says, and smiles again, and it's a few more moments before he lets go of Kris's wrist. "I'm Dave."

"Hey," says Kris, crossing one arm over his body and grabbing hold of his opposite elbow. "I'm Kris. I was just...water's colder than I thought it was going to be."

"Yeah, my buddy was saying yesterday that it's like they dumped ice cubes in this pool," he says. "He only stayed in for a few minutes then headed out to one of the other ones. You know, out that way." He jerks a thumb over his shoulder in a vague sort of a way.

"So would it be a badge of honor if I manage to stay in here more than a few minutes?" says Kris, looking down at the perfectly clear water of the pool. It's probably a bad sign that there's no one else in it. "Or would my 'nads shrivel up and refuse to come out again until I'm back at college?"

Dave laughs and takes a step backwards. "God forbid," he says. "Come on, I'll show you. It's not far from here."

"Yeah, I think I was over there yesterday, after I spent a little time in the ocean," says Kris, but he doesn't even hesitate to follow. And not really because he's afraid of the cold, if he's being honest with himself. "This place is so big. Kind of easy to get lost."

"I totally got lost my first day here," says Dave. "My and my friend Mike. We argued who was going to end up eating who first if we didn't manage to find civilization soon, until I pointed out that there were totally coconuts hanging over my head."

"I'd watch out for that guy if I were you," says Kris, shaking his head as he follows. Dave turns back for just a moment, tugs Kris's arm away from his body until it's hanging loosely at his side again, then smiles at him and starts on their way again. Kris isn't sure what it means, but he knows enough to know that it means _something_.

He's never been gladder he managed to drop most of the freshman fifteen—and whatever he was carrying before that—over the summer so far. _Most_. But they didn't stop him from getting some action then, and he's not going to let it stop him now. Even though he didn't spend most of his freshman year shirtless.

"This is the place," says Dave, waving to a couple people on the other side of the pool. His buddies, Kris figures, or Dave has been more successful meeting new people here than Kris has. There's a lot to be said for traveling in the off season, and not being surrounded by a lot of other vacationers goes in both the pro and the con columns. "The pool that's actually heated."

Kris dips his toe in this one, then flails in surprise when Dave does push him in this time. He's sputtering when he comes back up for air, and Dave is standing there at the edge of the pool laughing. Standing very close to the edge. Kris slicks his hair back and glides back to the edge, and acts completely natural, right up until he grabs Dave's ankle and yanks him into the water too.

Dave's flailing is very satisfying. As is his friends' laughter from the other side of the pool.

"Touche," says Dave when he surfaces, splashing a little in Kris's direction. "Well, that takes care of the tentative entry part of the afternoon?"

"Does it?" says Kris under his breath, and only when he hears Dave's surprised laugh does he realize that it was loud enough to be heard. He covers his embarrassment with another splash and then they're off, chasing and splashing all around the pool, at least making an effort to avoid innocent bystanders but getting enough good-natured splashes in their direction from parts unknown to suggest they're not entirely successful.

Kris doesn't know how long it is before they finally drag themselves out again in search of towels, but it's long enough that his limbs actually ache and he feels like he's been through a full workout, and he's completely forgotten to be body-conscious anymore.

"So who's your friend, David?" he hears as he's bending over and toweling off his legs, probably not his best angle.

"This is Kris," he says, giving Kris's wet shorts a little tug to get him to stand up. "He's here with his family."

"I came with my family anyway," he says. "I barely even see them outside of mealtimes."

"As it should be," says the guy. Kris is sure he picks up an accent, diluted, like he's from someplace else but has been in the States for a while.

"Kris," says Dave, "this is Mike and Carly. They call themselves my friends, though there are times when I'm not convinced."

"Ignore him," says Mike. "He loves us, really." Then Carly gives him an ostentatious kiss on the cheek and that's how Kris gets not only one person but a whole crew to hang out with.

*

Kris is up super early, not because he couldn't sleep but because he slept well and slept hard, with some dreams that leave him with something to take care of in the shower. No one else is up, breakfast isn't even out yet, so he throws on some shorts and his flip-flops and carries his guitar out to the beach again, sitting on the sand and strumming as the sun rises. It beats hanging around in his hotel room anyway, not that there's anything wrong with it but the air is cool and overly-conditioned and the ocean breezes are a hundred times better.

He stays out there long after the sun rises, taking little walks sometimes but mostly just sitting on the sand and playing or people-watching. He has his guitar on his back and he's walking just at the edge of the surf when he hears someone coming up behind him, the unmistakable sound of someone trying to catch up with him, distinguishable from the sounds of the rest of the people who've trickled in over the morning to populate the beach.

"Well, fancy meeting you here," says Dave, falling into step next to him. "You'd think we were staying at the same resort or something."

"Yeah, funny thing," says Kris, squinting into the sun as he turns his head to grin at him. "You solo this morning?"

"Mike and his girlfriend are off on one of those hiking trips," he says, "and Carly says she is taking this entire day to sunbathe. We all know she's going to come back with a burn, but sometimes there's just nothing you can say."

"I think I'm getting close to a burn myself," admits Kris, pressing his fingers into the soft flesh of his upper arm and looking for the telltale streaks of red. "It wasn't this intense when I came out here. Actually, there wasn't even sun when I came out here."

"Early riser?"

"Not usually," says Kris. "Maybe I just felt like I had something to get up for today."

"Maybe we should get you inside for some sunscreen, or at least some shade," he suggests, and starts steering them towards the main building. Kris just lets himself be steered, both because it's a good idea and because if David had suggested they go for a dip in the ocean, guitar and all, he probably would've done that too.

He's carrying it by the neck by the time they reach the building, because out of the corner of his eye he keeps seeing Dave make abortive gestures like he wants to touch him or put his arm around him or something, and Kris wants to give him every opportunity to do just that.

"I need to find a soda machine," Dave says when they get inside. "I think there's one up this way."

Kris knows that there is, and leads the way up the spiral stairs to the second level, then down a long corridor. He knows because he passes it every morning, and leads Dave right to it without saying a word about how he knows.

He jumps when David presses the soda can to the back of his neck, condensation dripping down his spine. "Oh, that's cold!" he says, and laughs when he actually shivers.

"Really?" says Dave. "I hadn't noticed that at all. Imagine, a can of soda being cold. What fuckery is this? We should complain to the management."

"Or we could give it a shot," says Kris, shivering again as Dave rolls it against his neck. The good kind of shivering, a relief from the intense sunshine and a little bit of anticipation mixed in too. He's not entirely sure where this is heading yet, but he'd been growing more and more confident all of yesterday, and when Dave comes and finds him this morning he's pretty sure. "Who knows? It might be, you know, all right. If you're into that sort of thing."

"My friends say that about so much of what I do already," says Dave. "What's one more thing, right?"

He doesn't open the can, though. Instead he rolls it down between Kris's shoulder blades, all the way to the small of his back where it sends another shiver through him.

"You do this with your friends?" he says, his voice coming out surprisingly rough.

"No," says Dave, rubbing his thumb through the condensation pooling at the small of Kris's back. It feels almost shockingly warm again next to the soda can. "I definitely don't do this with my friends."

"Good," says Kris, his voice dropping. "Because that would just be awkward. For me, for them, for everyone, really."

"Back out to the pool?" says David, finally pulling the can away from his skin and opening it, then draining half of it in one gulp. Kris watches his throat as he does.

"Maybe we should stay out of the sun for a little while," says Kris, then angles his head to the right. "My room's on this floor...."

"Shared?"

Kris shakes his head. "We got a good rate. My brother's next door. My parents are somewhere else."

There's really only one reason it matters whether he shares the room or not, and Kris dares to give Dave a smile that's a little more suggestive now. Dave lifts an eyebrow, then drains most of the rest of his drink.

"We've got four people crammed in ours," he says, "and I'm pretty sure two of them are having sex when they think we're sleeping. Actually, I'm not sure if they even care if we're sleeping. And let me tell you, Mike's girlfriend is not quiet."

"Ouch," says Kris, taking a couple of steps backwards and waiting for Dave to follow. Which he does a moment later, with a suggestive smile on his face and, Kris thinks, just a little bit of spring in his step. Kris can't deny there's a little spring in his step too, and he figures there's _definitely_ a glint in his eye. "I think payback's probably in order."

"I think I'd rather enjoy myself in privacy, if it's all the same," says Dave. They arrive at Kris's room, and Kris actually manages to get the keycard in behind his back so he never has to take his eyes off of him.

If there's one single telling moment, a moment that finally and definitively gives it all away, that's probably it.

They're inside and the door clicks shut and there are about five seconds of awkward silence before David leans in, makes one false start to give Kris an out—which he doesn't take—and then finally kisses him.

"Well, I guess that answers that question," he says a moment later. "Of course, you generally don't want to try that until you're pretty sure."

"Yeah, tell me about it," says Kris with a nervous laugh, blindly leaning his guitar against the dresser behind his back before they kiss again. Dave's light beard is scratchy against his face, different from how Cale feels when he's unshaven, and Kris decides that he likes it in between kisses number two and three.

Kiss number four gets them to the bed, and kiss number five only happens after swim trunks have been shed. Kris tells himself it's because he doesn't want to get sand on the bedspread, but there are sand on his feet too so that's a lie, Kris really just wants to get skin to skin with Dave on his bed and see where it goes.

The soda can makes it to the bed with them, balanced on Kris's belly after Dave takes another sip and moves in for kiss number six. It makes him shiver, but the chill also hits the nerves heading straight to Kris's groin and far from cooling him down, the cold soda can just gets him hotter.

"I like what I'm seeing here," says David, picking up the can and draining the rest of it. He puts the empty can back on Kris again, but Kris just laughs and flicks it across the room in the general direction of the garbage can. Kiss number seven is with cool, sweet lips, Kris stealing the last of Dave's soda straight from his mouth.

"My vacation just got so much better," says Kris, especially when kiss number eight is accompanied by Dave moving one leg in between his and rubbing against him, faux-casually.

"Yeah, tell me about it," says Dave, then his kisses move down from Kris's lips and he loses track of how many there've been.

He's definitely not so experienced that he really knows where this is going and hopes that Dave is, that he'll take the lead, but then it's not really that complicated. Dave grabs his cock and Kris grabs Dave's cock and it's all pretty natural after that, the kissing and the stroking, the nipping and the grinding.

Dave makes a joke about it being just as hot inside as it was outside now and Kris just huffs out a breath and tries to remember to breathe normally as he rapidly approaches orgasm. And then when it hits and he spills over Dave's fist, he tries to remember to keep stroking because Dave's not done yet. But he makes it easy by shifting position and bracing himself and thrusting into Kris's fist so he takes over half the work.

When he comes it hits Kris's stomach as well as his hand, and the heat of it is in stark opposition to the soda can that had been resting there not so long ago.

"Let me get something to clean up," says Dave, not right away but after they've had a chance to lay there for a few moments and breathe and come down. Kris steals another kiss before he goes but doesn't stop him from heading for Kris's bathroom and rummaging around for a washcloth.

It's cool and refreshing, and after they toss it in the general direction of the empty soda can when they're done they stretch out on the bed side be side and talk about whatever, school and family and friend and where they come from and all the getting-to-know-you stuff that they haven't covered before.

"So we're doing the family thing this afternoon," says Kris finally, and wishes he could get out of it but there are a few concessions he has to make seeing how this is a family vacation, and this is one of them. "Or I would. I mean."

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to be on aloe duty soon anyway," says Dave. "Carly should be back from the beach any time now, if she isn't already."

"Meet you at the beach tomorrow?" says Kris as David pulls his shorts on. He leaves them hanging open as he looks back over his shoulder and grins at him.

"It's a date," he says, running his hands through his unfortunate hair. It doesn't help. "We shouldn't be hard to find. Mike's shorts have gigantic pineapples on them."

"Yeah, I remember," says Kris with a broad smile. Nothing is going to get him down today. Nothing. "After lunch?"

"Perfect," says David, and gives him kiss Kris-doesn't-even-know-what-number before he goes.

*

The beach is a good time, lots of sand and sun and water and Kris genuinely likes David's friends. He genuinely likes _David_. He doesn't let on that they're anything other than just buddies, but David isn't shy about touching him or grabbing him, or tackling him if the moment is appropriate (which occasionally it is, when there are flying balls in involved).

They head off-resort for dinner, a little adventure that ends with Brooke complaining of a sore stomach and Jason declaring himself the unofficial king of street meat.

Afterwards Dave comes back to Kris's room and once they're inside they don't even pretend it's not to get naked together again, in as quick and spectacular a fashion as possible.

In Kris's case "spectacular" translates as "tripping over his underwear and ending up sprawled on his stomach on the bed," but it turns out Dave likes him just fine that way. It's slower this time, taking more time to explore each other's bodies, find the similarities and differences, to touch in the best and most unexpected places.

Dave goes down on him this time, the act just naturally flowing from everything they've been doing up till that point. Kris already knows he likes that, but he decides he really, really likes it after Dave does it.

If Dave can tell it's Kris's first time when it's his turn, he doesn't say anything.

He's tentative at first, taking a couple of licks to try it out. It's not as weird as he thinks it's going to be, and after those first couple licks he's pretty happy to wrap his lips around the head and give it a gentle suck. That gets the most magnificent hiss out of Dave that Kris does it again, sliding a little bit more into his mouth this time and getting his tongue into it.

He doesn't even _try_ to take him in deep, knowing his limitations all too well, but Dave doesn't try to take him in that direction. He clearly likes attention on the head, and in any way Kris wants to give it to him. Kris licks and sucks, tries different positions and different angles, and when Dave starts panting and clutching at his hair Kris wraps his fist around what's not in his mouth and sucks a little harder.

He swallows when Dave comes, and it's not nearly as weird or as hard as he thought it would be. Okay, it's a little weird, but he could get used to it.

David falls asleep afterwards, and Kris doesn't see any point to waking him up. It's not like they have anywhere to be, not tonight and probably not for most of the week. Kris is pretty drowsy himself, and even though he doesn't fall asleep he still lays there in bed, eyes closed most of the time, running his fingers up and down Dave's arm and occasionally watching him sleep. It might be weirdly tender for what is, at the moment, little more than a one night stand, a fling, but they've just spent the day together. Kris figures this is at least friends, if nothing more than that. They aren't strangers in the night.

It's a couple of hours before Dave wakes up again, slowly and messily, groaning against the pillow and stretching and twisting and only after a couple minutes of that realizing that Kris is even there. Kris isn't touching him anymore, just stretched out in the bed, propped up on one elbow and sort of blearily looking at him since about a half an hour ago he got up and took his contacts out, figuring it probably wouldn't be that much longer before he _did_ fall asleep.

"Sorry?" he says a little sheepishly, but Kris just laughs and shakes his head.

"I didn't mind," he says. "I'm flattered I wore you out."

"Still," says David. "I try not to do that. It's a little...you know."

"It's really not," says Kris. "Seriously. No big deal. I liked having you here."

Dave seems simultaneously pleased and awkward to hear that, and Kris wonders just what's going through his head that puts those expressions on his face. It's their second time together and he felt comfortable enough to fall asleep, so Kris doesn't think it's that he doesn't want to be here.

"I'm not looking for anything serious—"

Kris interrupts him before he can get any further than that. "We're on vacation," he says. "I know what this is. I just want to have some fun while we're here."

"Okay, good," says David. "Not that I'm not having a great time, but—"

"We go to school in two different states, and we've only known one another a couple of days," Kris finishes for him again. "We've got a whole week ahead of us. Let's enjoy it for what it is."

"Okay, if you're—"

This time Kris just kisses him to shut him up. He _likes_ Dave, and maybe in another time and another place things might've been different, but he just wants to experience this and he is definitely very sure. He's not sure he knows what he's doing, but he definitely knows why he's doing it.

"What are you going to tell your buddies you're doing?" Kris asks him once he's sure that Dave understands exactly where he stands on this.

"Getting laid," he says with an easy shrug, and Kris envies that a little. "What are you going to tell your family you're doing?"

"Hanging out with people my own age," says Kris. "Maybe now they'll stop ragging on me for bringing my guitar on vacation. I think I'll leave the getting laid part out."

"Yeah, they'll probably be less impressed with that than my buddies are," says Dave. There's a flicker in his eyes that makes Kris wonder if he wants to ask if Kris is out to them or not. He shakes his head slightly in answer to that, but he's not sure whether they've actually had a full communication there or not.

"I think they're kind of treating this like a romantic getaway," admits Kris, "which I don't need to be around for. And all my brother wants to do is watch girls on the beach. Other than a couple of family things, I don't think they're going to be too worried about what I'm doing as long as I'm having a good time."

"Well, I'm pretty sure we can make that happen."

*

When Dave invites Kris to a party with him— _with_ him and not just 'if you're looking for something to do'—Kris has a feeling he's not intending to keep any kind of distance between them.

"So your friends are cool if we're...?" Kris gestures back and forth between them as if that can convey everything he's trying to say.

"Are you kidding?" says Dave. "They're _relieved_. I think they were worried I was going to be a cockblocker the whole time we were here. I told them I was going to hook up while we were here, but they didn't believe me."

"They should've," said Kris. "Hard to imagine you not managing to hook up, unless the pickings were too slim on account of the season."

"Well, it's no spring break," agrees David, "but no way could we afford to come down here during spring break. They need to have more faith in me, and in the powers of the universe to bring someone like you on vacation here and now."

"But mostly faith in you, right?"

"Yeah, mostly faith in me," says David, and hauls Kris in for a slippery kiss before they head out to the beach party, not just Dave's friends but a bunch of other people who are at the hotel right now, mostly students vacationing on the cheap. Not for the first time Kris wishes he were here with his friends too, that they were a part of this. But then he's also glad that he's in this environment to sort of spread his wings a little without any real long-term consequences.

The first thing Dave does when they get there is grab his ass so there's not much mistaking them for anything other than what they are, except maybe mistaking them for something _more_ than they are, for anyone who doesn't know either of them.

And they do get a couple of looks that are less than comfortable, if not downright unfriendly, but it's mostly a really good experience. Kris has a great time, and when Dave holds his hand as they sit by the fire it's a new kind of moment for him. A kind of relationship he hasn't had before, and one he's pretty sure he's never going to forget.

Of course, when they go back to Kris's room afterwards, it's a pretty good time too.

*

Kris spends breakfast listening to his brother talk about a girl that he's been watching (in what Kris thinks is a faintly creepy way, but he probably only thinks that because it's Daniel), and the rest of the morning going on a nature walk with his father while his mother spends some time in the spa. And it's not that he doesn't enjoy the nature walk, or the company of his father (both of which he really actually does), but by the time they're back and he's grabbed a quick lunch, he's pretty much ready for the beach. And the guy he knows he'll find there.

It's hot outside, and in the back of his mind Kris is worried that his shoulders are burning but he's not so worried that he wants to move right now. After the day he's had so far, all he wants to do is lay here and doze in the sunshine. He feels Dave poke at his back a couple of times, but he doesn't even have the energy to swat him away.

That is, until Dave squeezes cold sunscreen onto his back.

He actually spasms, contorting his body in a weird and almost certainly unattractive way before collapsing back on his front on the towel again.

"Well, that was fun," says Dave, right when Kris has gotten used to the sensation. "I'm going to try that again."

"I think I ruptured something," says Kris faintly. "You broke me."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't," says Dave as he squirts a little more of it onto his back, "but I'm willing to test that theory."

Kris thought he was ready for it this time but he so isn't, his body twisting and letting out a helpless squeak. He's not sure which Dave finds funnier, the twisting or the squeak, but at least one of the two sets him off.

"You're torturing me for you own amusement now," says Kris, relaxing back onto his towel again as his body gets used to the shock of cold, though he still feels his nerves sparking all the way down his back and sides. "Are you just going to leave it like that?"

"That would leave you with some very unfortunate tan lines," says Dave, "and I'm not very good at keeping my hands off of you anyway."

"Especially my back," says Kris, though that's not entirely true. Dave likes putting his hands on all kinds of things. "I have no idea why that is."

Dave is silent for a few moments, hands smoothing all over Kris's back, from the nape of his neck right down to the slightest curve of ass that's showing above his shorts. It's a lot nicer than Kris is letting on, and as much as he likes Dave's hands on him he sort of regrets that it's _here_ , on a public beach, where it can't be anything more than this.

"Shoulder freckles," Dave finally says, and sinks his teeth lightly into Kris's shoulder, just the barest scrape of teeth. Oh, Kris is _so_ turned on right now.

"No fair you doing that somewhere I can't jump you," he murmurs, still shivering every so often as the coolness seeps into him.

So turned on.

"So maybe we should go someplace else," says Dave, and gives him another nip. "I need to wake you up for beach tag later anyway."

"Beach tag?"

"I'll explain on the way back to your room," says Dave, and Kris is very glad he has a towel to carry in front of himself the whole way.

*

Kris knew there was a higher risk of storms during August, that was just the price you paid for vacationing in the off season, but when a storm rolls in, strong enough to keep everyone indoors though not hurricane strength or anything, he's still a little unprepared.

"I'll have my phone on if you need me," he says. "I'm just—"

"You're going somewhere in this weather?" says his mother. "That can't be safe. They're having some activities downstairs in the hotel. Your father and I were thinking about—"

"I'm not going anywhere outside," said Kris, "I'm just going to hang out with my friends."

"But your brother—"

"Already went out," says Kris. At the look his parents exchange, they obviously didn't already know that. Kris avoids putting his foot in his mouth further and mentioning there might be a girl involved. Maybe he and Daniel aren't that close, but they're brothers and there's a _code_ involved here. "You know how he gets stir crazy. I think he's in the gym."

"Ah," says his father, and the whole thing smoothes over right there. As far as Kris can tell, anyway. "We made reservations for dinner tonight."

"For the two of you?"

"For all four of us," he says "With the weather the way it is, we thought it might be wise. No one's going to be leaving the hotel."

"Right," says Kris, mentally rearranging his plans. This thing with Dave isn't really a going-out-for-dinner relationship anyway. He's pretty sure it won't be a problem if he misses eating dinner on the floor of the hotel room Dave is sharing with his friends. Or maybe the hotel room the rest of his friends are in, Kris isn't even sure which one. He can catch up with them again afterwards. "What time?"

"Six," says his mother, which suits Kris just fine. He gets family time in, and he still finishes early enough to have his whole evening free for...well, whatever. Maybe not even making out, maybe actually spending time being sociable.

Though all things considered, it's probably going to be both.

*

They leave the impromptu party in Dave's friends' room (Kris still isn't entirely clear on who is staying in which room; he's pretty sure it's just mix-and-match at this point) some time close to midnight, he thinks, though he hasn't been keeping track of time and he's actually had a couple of drinks. Spread out over the evening so he's not feeling anything more than a warm buzz but still more than he would usually have.

The privacy of Kris's room—by this point with the amount of stuff Dave's left there it's pretty much _their_ room—has become their destination of choice over the week, but Dave's room is closer and they _know_ that nobody else is leaving that party for a while so they take the chance.

Kris has just taken his shirt off when there's a rumble of thunder and the lights flicker and the room goes dark.

"Wow," he says dryly after a moment of awkward silence. "It's never had _that_ effect before."

It breaks the tension, and Dave cracks up and moves away to the dresser. "We have emergency candles," he says. "Just hold that thought."

"We don't really need _lights_ ," says Kris, then stubs his toe on the corner of the bed when he tries to follow Dave to the dresser and realizes that okay, maybe they do need a _little_ light. He can make things out every time there's a flash of lightning, but other than that his eyes just aren't adjusting to the dark.

"The hotel has generators, but I'm not sure how long it'll take them to come online," says Dave. "Or whether they use them for more than essential services."

"Room lights are an essential service," says Kris, but he figures lighting in public areas, refrigeration and medical services probably have priority. And he doesn't mind the dark, once he's someplace soft and safe. The dark also minimizes the chance that they're going to have any unexpected guests.

"Eureka!" says Dave, and Kris thinks he's must be holding something up in triumph, but he doesn't know for sure until David actually puts lighter to candle and lets there be light.

"Should I applaud?" says Kris, then does it just to be polite. Or a smartass.

"Here, you hold this," says Dave. "I want to find my lube before we lose the light."

While Dave searches his bag, Kris sits cross-legged on his bed and watches the flickering of the candle, right up until a stream of hot wax suddenly spills over onto his fist.

"Ow, ow," he says, and tries to figure out how to handle the candle at the same time as he tries to peel the cooling wax off his reddened skin. Dave tosses the lube on the bed and immediately grabs the candle out of Kris's hand. "I can't believe I just did that."

"It doesn't look too bad," says Dave. The skin is tingling a little, the nerves all the way up to his elbow a little raw, but it's true that it's not actually that bad. And it's even better when Dave leans down and mouths his skin overtop of the red mark.

"Oh," says Kris, swallowing hard. "If I'd know it would get me that, I would've spilled more."

Dave doesn't say anything to that, but he looks thoughtful as he finds somewhere to affix the candle and proceeds to pull Kris's pants off. Probably not trusting Kris to do it himself, given his penchant for self-injury tonight. Kris tries to help with David's clothes but he pulls them off without ceremony, treating them as nothing more than obstacles on his way to getting into bed with Kris.

When he does, though, he picks up the candle again, blows a little on the flame, and holds it over Kris's abdomen with a clear question in his eyes.

" _Oh_ ," says Kris again, with a whole lot more meaning behind it this time. He bites his lips and thinks about it, thinks about the sting of the burn, the way it fired his nerves and the way David's mouth on him afterwards felt. Then he nods his head and watches as David tips the candle over just enough that a tiny dribble of wax splashes down onto his stomach. He hisses as it hits, but resists the urge to flinch away from it, letting David take care of peeling the soft wax away and letting him suck the hot, sore skin. His mouth is so warm that it's almost more painful a moment before it starts to soothe it all away.

"I would do your thighs," says David as the candle flickers in his hand, "but I think that would have some unfortunate side-effects."

Kris thinks about the wax tearing the hair from his thighs and nods fervently, even though the idea of David sucking him there does wonderful thinks for his arousal.

Instead of his thighs David goes for his nipples, not dripping the wax right on them but hitting beneath, just close enough that Kris _thinks_ he might hit them and tensing up in anticipation. The tensing up isn't fun, but the flood of relief afterwards, accompanied by the sting of the hot wax and the pressure of Dave's mouth, makes it so worth it.

"Oh _fu—_ ," he says, stopping just short of actually saying it. He inhales sharply through his nose and hopes David is going to do something about his cock really, really soon, whether it involves the wax or the lube or not.

"Shhh," says Dave soothingly, and drips wax on Kris's collarbone, blowing gently on it before peeling it away this time. Kris arches his back and grasps at him and David finally affixes the candle to a plate on the bedside table again and reaches for Kris's cock. Kris wants to tell him he can do whatever he wants but he finds he can't really say anything at all, and when David ends up using the lube to jerk both of them off at the same time it seems like exactly the right thing.

"I..." says Kris and doesn't even know what he means to finish that with. He feels like he should say _something_ to tell Dave just how turned on he feels right now, but then again, that's one of those things that doesn't actually have to be said. "I'm going to come all over you."

"I like it when you come all over me," says David, and proceeds to make sure they both do just that.

Kris feels weak afterwards so it's good he doesn't have to do anything but lie there and let Dave rub his fingertips over the red marks that dot Kris's body.

"Well, that was sure interesting," he says, pausing to give Kris a lingering kiss. "Gives us plenty of time for a second round, if you're up for it."

"Just give me a few minutes," says Kris, and smiles at him, and thinks about all the things they might do with what remains of the lube as soon as he can get it up again.

The wax was...wow. Unexpected and sharp and something that's going to linger with him long after tonight. But this next time he wants to take it slow, and he's already dreaming up ways they can do just that.

*

The vacation passes so fast Kris doesn't even know where it went or how it got there. Ten days seems like forever when you're planning it, but they're gone in the blink of an eye.

"I'll see you later," says Kris to his father after their last family dinner, "I'm just going to—"

"See your friend again?" says his father mildly. "Don't forget your sunscreen."

Kris doesn't miss the way he says it in the singular, nor the way he doesn't quite look at him. But it's not like he doesn't want to look at Kris, more like he knows that certain things will be too easy to read if Kris can see his face, and vice versa. For the first time Kris thinks that maybe his parents already know what Kris is finally thinking about telling them.

But his father doesn't say anything and neither does Kris. That's a conversation for when they're back home again, vacation over but sophomore year not yet begun. And Kris realizes that he's gone from considering telling them to planning for it. This thing he's doing right now is just for fun, but it's also the final piece of the puzzle, letting Kris figure out and accept who he is and who he wants. Showing him that it's for real and it's not going anywhere.

"I've got it," he says. "And I'll see you at breakfast. Promise."

"I trust you," he says, and Kris believes that he does. Kris never wants to do anything to violate that trust or prove himself unworthy of it.

He heads straight for his room instead of outside, though—no sunscreen necessary unless they want to put it to unorthodox use. Dave's already there, lurking in the hallway and reading a book as he waits by Kris's door. Kris's brother probably saw him, since he's been and gone already since dinner, but Kris doesn't even care. It doesn't matter to him as much as it used to.

"Come on," he says, tugging on Dave's shorts to get him inside as fast as he can. "I don't want to waste any more time."

Because tonight is it, their last night together, and Kris is a little sad about that when he thinks about it, but mostly he just wants to make the most of the time they have left right now. He takes his time stripping Dave's clothes off, though, because he wants to memorize every piece of him. They might never see one another again but Kris doesn't want to forget him, not any piece of him.

When Dave strips him down with the same attention and care, Kris wonders if he's thinking the same thing.

"I'm not even sure where I want to start," says Dave as they stumble over towards the bed, hands all over one another as soon as they're stripped bare, feeling all of those places they've just memorized.

"Anywhere," says Kris. "Everywhere."

Their hands touch everywhere and their lips touch everywhere too, kissing and nipping and licking and sucking, and if they don't linger anywhere for very long, not even on each other's cocks, it's only because they want to do everything and don't want it to be over too soon.

"Have you ever?" says David as Kris lies on his stomach and David runs his hand over Kris's bare ass. There are a lot of things he could be asking, but Kris knows exactly which one it is.

"Not...with someone else," he says awkwardly, glad his face is hidden so that Dave can't see the first real embarrassment Kris has shown about his inexperience since they started this thing.

"Okay, first of all, that's _hot_ ," says Dave, rubbing Kris's ass with his hand and leaning in closer to his ear as he talks. "What about fingers?"

"Not with someone else," Kris says again, softer this time but less hesitant. And he spreads his thighs a little too, not a hint, just...showing his comfort with _that_ , at least. Not just comfort but, he hopes, pretty clear desire.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," says Dave, giving Kris's ass a friendly slap before sliding off the bed. "Do you still have...? No wait, that's back in my room, shit. Do you want me to run back to my room?"

"Are you asking me if I want you to put your clothes on?" says Kris, twisting his body to look at him. "Seriously?"

"Good point," says David. "Complimentary lotion it is."

If there's any left, that is. But apparently the hotel staff has restocked his supply because David emerges triumphant from the bathroom a moment later. If David's just going to finger him, then they don't really need anything more robust than that. As if having someone finger him is going to be "just" anything.

"I'm pretty good at this, just so you know," says Dave, kissing the curve of Kris's ass as he speaks. "But you'll be able to judge that for yourself soon."

Kris only has himself to compare it to, but from the moment Dave pushes his first finger carefully into Kris's body Kris knows it's really no comparison at all. And that's just _one_. When he works a second in, Kris starts grinding back on his hand with a desire that surprises him a little in its intensity. He knows he enjoys this, but he didn't know quite how much.

"Oh God, I'm so glad I'm your first," says Dave as he twists his fingers inside him. "Do you even know how hot it is to know that no one else has ever made you do this before."

"Do you know how hot it is to be feeling this for the first time?" Kris counters, the words mumbled into the pillow that he's clutching to his face and chest now.

Dave laughs and presses his fingers further and curls them just a little and right there _that_ is something Kris has never managed to do for himself. "What the—" he blurts out and then struggles to catch his breath because the intensity of the pleasure takes him by surprise.

"So. Fucking. Hot," says Dave, leaning in to kiss down Kris's back as he continues to make him feel like _that_. Kisses down Kris's back and then over the curve of his ass, nipping and licking as he goes.

Kris thinks, for one exciting and terrifying second, that Dave's tongue is going to touch him _there_ but at the last second he nips at Kris's ass again instead and kisses the small of his back, and then turns him over with his fingers still buried inside him so that he can swallow his cock down.

Kris comes embarrassingly quickly, but Dave seems to be expecting that, holding Kris's hip down with his free hand and swallowing a few times before letting Kris slip out of his mouth again. A moment after that he pulls his fingers out too and cleans up with a fistful of tissues.

He's still hard, but Kris selfishly takes a few moments just to recover from the experience before urging Dave up the bed and to his mouth. His experience with blowjobs is limited to this week so he's never tried it in this position before, but Dave is gentle with him, thrusting a little bit but never enough to make Kris choke.

And he wasn't lying about Kris's one remaining virginity making him super hot; he lasts longer than Kris, but not by as much as Kris was expecting him to. Kris can't swallow from this position, but Dave moves off him quickly and Kris rolls over to discreetly spit into a tissue afterwards, not from lack of desire, just from lack of proper throat control.

They wrestle a little afterwards, and wrap their arms around each other, and as amazing as that just was Kris knows he still has the rest of the night to look forward to.

Kris doesn't want this vacation to end, but if it has to—and he knows that it does—he's glad he got to spend the last night of it with Dave.

*

They meet mid-morning, by the icy pool after breakfast, their luggage already down in the lobby and ready to go. The most they've done publicly is hold hands and kiss a couple of times in the company of Dave's friends, either in the privacy of his room or in the dark of night, but Dave doesn't hesitate to kiss him here and Kris doesn't hesitate to let him.

"Our shuttle leaves in ten minutes," says Dave. "I've got to go."

"Yeah, I know," says Kris. "Email me some time, if you want. It'd be cool to stay in touch. This has been..."

"Way better than watching my buddies get it on with their girlfriends this whole vacation," says Dave. Kris is pretty sure that's not how it would've gone, but most of the people in the group he'd come with _were_ paired up before they arrived. But they all seemed happy that Kris was there, treated him like part of the group whenever he joined them.

"Yeah," says Kris. "Way, way better than watching my brother girl watch."

Dave kisses him one more time, but there's not much more they can say and they don't prolong the moment with awkwardness. "Good-bye, Kris," he says, and Kris gives him a soft good-bye in return, and then Dave turns and goes before it ever gets tense or uncomfortable.

It's a little hard to see him go, but more than that Kris just feels a lightness and a gladness that this week happened at all.

"Did you have a good vacation?" his father asks him as Kris catches up with them at the shuttle.

"Yeah," says Kris, letting him give him an arm-around-the-shoulders hug. "It was great. How about you?"

"Good choice, kid," he says, and maybe they didn't do the whole thing as a family like the family vacations when they were younger, but they did enough and everyone seemed to be going home happy. As far as family vacations go, it's pretty much a win.

"We'll have to share stories when we get home," he says. "Catch up with what we missed."

"Will we?" says his dad, giving him a speculative look. "That's good to hear. I look forward to it."

And that's when Kris knows for sure that they're ready, or at least as ready as they can be, for what's coming. But the good thing is, now Kris is too. 


End file.
